We are home from the PPAI Expo and wow – we saw so much, learned even more, and had a great time connecting with old and new friends!It was great to attend the 2019 PPAI Expo with our whole team because there is so much to take in and we were able to have three sets of eyes.Also, having three people let us be very organized about what we saw, learned, and visited!Every year at the PPAI Expo is a great experience and 2019 certainly did not disappoint.

Preparing for Year Ahead with the 2019 PPAI Expo

We love that the PPAI Expo is at the beginning of the year because it allows us to see the latest and greatest products while our clients are preparing marketing strategies for the year ahead.We have projects on the horizon for clients and, knowing that, we were able to connect the right products with the coming projects.

What We Saw at the 2019 PPAI Expo

Tech promotional products have been popular for a while and this year was no exception.Wireless chargers for phones are all the rage.They are easy to brand and everyone needs a phone charger.The upside of a promotional wireless phone charger is that it will likely be used often so your brand will constantly be in front of whoever receives your promotional product.Additionally, we saw some cool octopus-style charging cords that can charge multiple devices, of different kinds (smartphone, laptop, tablet, etc.), at once.

Our Takeaways from the 2019 PPAI Expo

The best part about the 2019 PPAI Expo is not necessarily the event itself, but all that we learn and take home to our clients.We are most excited about a movement in our industry called PromoCares.With PromoCares, all of our clients have access to supplies in our industry that give back to others in some way.If you’ve read our blog before, you know that we believe strongly in not just connecting the dots for our clients but serving the community in which we live and leveraging the power of our clients to support organizations that give back.

We cannot wait to share all that we learned at the conference with our clients.If you are planning your 2019 marketing calendar or are ready to plan your next promotional products campaign, we at Connect the Dots would love to meet with you. We would be happy to share with you about the latest and greatest products in our industry and how you can utilize promotional products to promote your business and encourage brand loyalty.

2019 PPAI Expo

It’s the beginning of a new year and that also means it is PPAI Expo time!The entire Connect the Dots team – Karie, Marcie, & Kim – is headed to the 2019 PPAI Expo and we couldn’t be more excited to attend.We have been attending this event for a long time for a good reason – its the biggest and best event in the promotional products industry.PPAI describes what to expect at the 2019 PPAI Expo, “The PPAI Expo is the premier trade show for the promotional products industry. It’s the longest-running, best-attended, biggest event of the year. It takes place January 13-17, 2019 in the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. If you’re in the promotional products industry, come experience extraordinary at The PPAI Expo…Serving as the yearly launch pad for both suppliers and distributors, The PPAI Expo brings more than 12,000 distributors from nearly 4,000 companies together under one roof for the five-day event. The PPAI Expo features more than 1,200 exhibiting companies showcasing tens of thousands of promotional products in nearly a million square feet of the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, the fifth largest convention center in the U.S.”

What Connect the Dots Will Be Doing at the 2019 PPAI Expo

There is so much to see and learn at the PPAI Expo every year.And, not only that, but we get to network with industry peers, catch up with old friends, and just have a great time!We will also be taking classes because trends, regulations, products, product safety, and industry standards change every year.We love to learn about the latest and greatest products or marketing tools so that we can bring those ideas back to our clients.

How the 2019 PPAI Expo Will Prepare Us for the Year Ahead

At the 2019 PPAI Expo we will be meeting with vendors and other industry peers.It is a time of negotiating the best prices on the best products for our clients. But, another important topic we will be discussing this year is the potential new tariffs that may dramatically impact the promotional products industry.The proposed increase would change the tariff rate from 20% to 25% – a huge change. If the tariff increase is enacted, it is highly likely that prices will go significantly for promotional products which will certainly impact our customers.The deadline is in March so there will likely be a lot of strategy discussion for various potential scenarios.We can’t wait to learn, discuss, and have fun at the 2019 PPAI Expo!We will be sharing a recap of the experience once we return.In the meantime, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It has come to the time of year known as the ‘holiday season’ and with that, as well as the end of the calendar year, comes a lot of celebration.Everyone enjoys being appreciated and rewarded for a year of hard work and customer loyalty.First up on the holiday agenda is Thanksgiving and that reminds us that we have a lot to be thankful for.Within the business world, we are thankful for our business, thankful for our employees, thankful for our customers, thankful for our friends and partners in our industry.And, it is exactly that thankful spirit that we want to channel when we order holiday promotional products or year-end promotional products to give as gifts.

While there are promotional products for any budget, this is the time of year to really impress employees and customers with your thankfulness for the previous year and get them excited for the year to come.Regardless of what holidays you celebrate, there is always something to celebrate this time of year, so we have broken down holiday promotional products into 3 primary categories to help you choose your end-of-year gifts.The possibilities are endless so if you need help choosing or ordering your business holiday promotional products, Connect the Dots Promotions has the experience and knowledge you need to help you narrow down your choice and get your products ordered in time for the holiday season!

Holiday Promotional Products

Holiday Apparel Promotional Products

Promotional Jacket or Pullover

Everyone wants to be warm and cozy during the cold winter months and what better way to stay warm than with a cozy, branded jacket or pullover.A custom branded jacket or pullover is not only functional and very useful but a great marketing tool because it will share your brand wherever the wearer goes.

Promotional Hat

Everyone needs a great hat and with a stylish branded hat, your employee or customer will be happy to represent your brand on their head!

Promotional T-Shirt

You can never have too many t-shirts and a branded t-shirt can be a handy promotional product.You can encourage employees to wear their company shirt to work or company events and you can encourage customers to wear your shirt to your events or as part of a loyalty program.

Holiday Food Promotional Products

Promotional Chocolate, Popcorn, Nuts, Oh My!

It is pretty hard to go wrong giving someone a yummy treat! Whether you want to give a promotional food item to employees or customers, there is a myriad of options at a wide array of price points to accommodate any budget.Food is always a crowd pleaser and they will remember who was so generous while they happily snack the day away!

Holiday Gadget Promotional Products

Promotional Tech

Everyone loves technology.Anyone can always use a (or another!) PopSocket or portable Bluetooth speaker. You can print your brand right on it, a special message, a name or anything else you can think of and give the gift of technology this holiday season.

Promotional Water Bottle/Mug/Tumbler

Reusable water bottles, mugs, and tumblers are not only useful but eco-friendly.They reduce waste and save money so they are already great, but once they are branded with your company logo, they will be even better because they will be a mobile marketing tool!

Fall & Winter Promotional Products

The weather has begun to cool off and fall and winter holidays are upon us.Whether you are hosting a company holiday event, school or church harvest festival, winter wonderland event, Trunk or Treat, or Snow Day event, or any other fall or winter event – you want to make it memorable.The best way to give everyone that attends your event a great experience and a lasting memory of the time they had is with branded fall and winter promotional products.

Warm Winter Wearables

Try saying that three times fast! Warm winter wearables are always a popular promotional product to give away at fall and winter events because they are just so useful! While it may seem like there isn’t much exciting happening with things like gloves and hats, there’s new technology and there are great ways to brand these items.For example, there are touchscreen gloves with special fingertips and a palm that helps you hold your tech and be able to swipe and use your touch screen on your tech without having to take your gloves off.Great customizable branded wearables include mittens, beanies, hats, sweatshirts, jackets and more!

Maximize Winter Comfort and Convenience

Something like a tote bag or a blanket that has been custom branded makes an ideal gift for your fall or winter festival.They can help guests carry things around while at the event, stay warm while at the event, and will continue to be useful long after the event! Talk about a marketing win!

Give Your Guests Something Fun to Do!

While you will certainly have some form of entertainment or activities at your fall or winter festival, it never hurts to have something fun for all ages to enjoy.A branded frisbee, branded ball, branded kite, or other branded outdoor toy can make a fun gift that also helps maximize everyone’s fun at the event!

Let Your Winter & Fall Promotional Products Serve Double Duty

One great way to save on the cost of cups, be eco-friendly, and have a great gift all in one is to invest in branded water bottles, branded tumblers, or branded mugs.You can serve your guests with customized water bottles, tumblers, or mugs and they can take them home to use them again!

Get in the School Spirit with Promotional Products!

We all love to root for our favorite home team, represent our alma mater with pride, or show off our school colors!Being a part of a school community is fun but the fun can be further enhanced with school spirit promotional items.Whether you are preparing for ‘back-to-school,’ have a school spirit shop, a big homecoming game, athletic events, academic events, or just want to represent your school with pride every day, there are a wide array of promotional products that will excellently represent your school spirit.

Give Consumers What They Want & Foster School Loyalty with Promotional Products

School spirit promotional products never go out of style.And, even if there are extras you can always give them away as a gesture of goodwill or reward for an achievement, or you could sell them in your school spirit shop!PPAI points out that smart young consumers (high school and college students, for example) are eager to be on trend while representing their school spirit during their school years and as alumni as well, “With more than 20 million students roaming U.S. college campuses this fall, building brand loyalty among them seems as easy as a course in underwater basketweaving. But the tastes and opinions of these savvy young consumers are as diverse as their backgrounds, so campaigns need to be thoughtful, targeted and on trend…Tote bags and backpacks, including inexpensive drawstring bags, are popular as well, she says. “Totes are used to carry stuff at events; backpacks are given out at orientation to carry books and laptops; drawstring bags are used to advertise events.” Rounding out the top three for Larick’s clients are portable drinkware options. “Disposable water bottles are being banned on many campuses we work with,” she says. “Students often carry water bottles and thermal coffee mugs around campus.” School spirit continues to live on for many alumni, particularly those who participated in campus organizations such as sports teams, fraternities and sororities.”Custom school spirit promotional products will show off your school pride in style, provide traveling marketing opportunities for more people to learn about your school, serve many helpful purposes, and ultimately – they are a lot of fun!

8 Fun School Spirit Promotional Products

Drawstring Bag

Every kid can use a drawstring bag to tote their gym clothes, shoes, books, or other items!

Cups or Tumblers

Everyone in the family will love having a custom school spirit cup or tumbler!

Sports Ball

Whether you opt to customize a football, basketball, soccer ball, baseball or volleyball – custom school balls are great gifts! Give them to school athletic team members, students or families!

Pens & Pencils

Pens and pencils are necessary school writing tools. They are also some of the most inexpensive promotional products! These budget-friendly school spirit promotional products are a great choice!

Notebooks

Jot down class notes in style or just have a handy notebook at the ready with a custom logo notebook.

Lanyards

Most schools today require student ID cards or badge. A custom logo lanyard is not only spreading school spirit but a helpful accessory to promote school security!

Hats

Hats are a staple in the promotional product industry, and for good reason – everybody loves a great hat!It is the easiest and most convenient way to represent your favorite school while also keeping the sun out of your eyes!

Stadium Seats or Cushions

Cheering on your school team can sometimes last hours but that doesn’t mean you have to be uncomfortable! Sit on a customized school spirit stadium seat or cushion!

Connect the Dots Can Customize Your School Spirit Promotional Products!

Participating in the 10th Annual UMOM Walk to End Homelessness

At Connect the Dots, we are all about creating a community of connection.We love our clients and we love our community so any time we can bring them together in one way or another is a total win in our books.A community of connection pulls everyone together for a more impactful outcome.And, because we love our community and our clients, we are so proud to sponsor the 10th Annual UMOM Walk to End Homelessness.We have volunteered with UMOM for many years and are proud to support this great organization in any way that we can.And, not only will be participating in the event but we are going to be sponsoring a team in an effort to break a Guinness World Record!

How You Can Be a Part of a Guinness World Record

We want as many people as possible to participate in the UMOM Walk to End Homelessness because we will be breaking the Guinness World Record for the Largest Thong Sandal Race. The current record is 1,346 participants and this year we will break that record at the Phoenix Zoo!And, because we work to create a community of connection, one of our Connect the Dots Promotions Clients, McCarthy Building Co., has donated flip-flops for the event for teams to wear. We love when we can bring clients together and also support the community and make an effort to end homelessness!

The UMOM Walk to End Homelessness is a 1K race at the Phoenix Zoo that raises money and awareness for families, single women, and youth experiencing homelessness.You can choose to participate in the event as an individual, as part of a team, or as a sponsor!

It may only be August but the 4th Quarter is almost here and that means it is time to start planning ahead!Any companies give out gifts to their employees and clients during the 4th Quarter, often for the holidays, but as year-end gifts as well.You might be thinking that it is way too early to be thinking about holiday and end-of-year gifts but if you start planning now it will make your marketing more effective and be more cost efficient as well.

Plan Ahead Maximizes Your Marketing Efforts

Planning ahead will not only give you peace of mind (though this should not be underestimated!), it will maximize your marketing efforts.First, every single business will be ordering holiday and end-of-year promotional products during the 4th Quarter and that means it will take longer to fulfill those orders. Don’t get stuck at the last minute paying more for a promotional product that is not ideal for your business or marketing goals just because you are in a rush.Plan and order your holiday promotional products in advance and you will have the exact promotional products you want when you need them.

Planning Ahead Maximizes Your Marketing Budget

Additionally, by anticipating the type of promotional product(s) you would like to customize for employees or clients, you will have the ability to budget accordingly.By planning ahead you do not have to worry about paying rush order fees or a supplier being unable to fulfill your order.By the time the 4th Quarter rolls around, your annual budget may have shifted and you may either have more or less in your budget than you anticipated at the beginning of the year.With enough advance, you can adjust and plan ahead to maximize any marketing budget.

Planning Ahead Let’s You Get Creative with Marketing

Also, planning a marketing calendar months in advance can feel like work but it makes it much easier to get creative with marketing.Why not try giving your 4th Quarter promotional products to clients and employees at Halloween or Thanksgiving, rather than at the end of the year?Sometimes an unexpected and creative promotional product can make all the difference in terms of impact and brand recognition.And, you will stand out more from your competitors if you get more creative with your marketing efforts. There are so many ways to use promotional products creatively around fun holidays, as thank you’s, or for any other 4th Quarter event your business has planned.If you need help planning your 4th Quarter promotional products or are looking for some unique and creative ways to market your brand, Connect the Dots Promotions can help you turn your 4th Quarter marketing into a success!

What Type of ROI Can Promotional Products Offer?

When choosing marketing and promotional products, it is common to wonder what the ROI (return on investment) will be. While this is understandable, there is no set formula for what works best in marketing. It is impossible to predict what a promotional product’s “ROI” will be, particularly because in marketing there are different types of promotional product ROI. To label a return on investment as only monetary would be significantly simplifying the impact that promotional products can have for your business.

What Exactly Constitutes ‘ROI’?

First, it is important to establish what ROI can mean for your business.There is obviously monetary ROI – when a promotional product converts to a sale.But, promotional products can also foster goodwill and enhance and extend your branding efforts.Think about the marketing real estate of someone’s desk.If someone sits at their desk every day then that is tremendous opportunity to market your brand if you can take up even a small portion of that real estate.Calendars, notepads, mousepads, mugs, Bluetooth speakers, pens, and more that sit on everyone’s desks can be custom branded. Each time that person sits down at their desk they will see your logo.This creates brand recognition/recall, fosters goodwill because they remember that you gave a gift, and may just be the reminder they need when they need your product or service to give you a call.That is tremendous and diverse ROI!

Diversify Your Definition of ROI to See the True Potential of Promotional Products!

In addition to utilizing someone’s desk real estate, you can strategically use promotional products as creative marketing tools that create brand recognition and help you grow your social media presence.Branded wearable promotional products are great to hand out at events.You can encourage people to snap a pic and tag you so that they can win a prize.Another fun way to increase social media engagement is to encourage people to snap a picture with your logo any time they see it.For example, if they are out at the bank or a local restaurant and see your branded pen on the counter, they can take a picture of it and tag your social media profile to win a prize.This enhances the ROI on a relatively small investment in a promotional pen and creates a grassroots marketing movement for your brand.When discussing branded promotional product ROI, it is important to look at all the different ROI types and potential with any given item so that you can maximize your marketing budget!